The Effectiveness of Sexual Offender Treatment for Juveniles as Measured by Recidivism: A Meta-analysis

The Effectiveness of Sexual Offender Treatment for Juveniles as Measured by Recidivism: A...
Reitzel, Lorraine; Carbonell, Joyce
2006-11-30 00:00:00
Published and unpublished data from nine studies on juvenile sexual offender treatment effectiveness were summarized by meta-analysis (N=2986, 2604 known male). Recidivism rates for sexual, non-sexual violent, non-sexual non-violent crimes, and unspecified non-sexual were as follows: 12.53%, 24.73%, 28.51%, and 20.40%, respectively, based on an average 59-month follow-up period. Four included studies contained a control group (n=2288) and five studies included a comparison treatment group (n=698). An average weighted effect size of 0.43 (CI=0.33–0.55) was obtained, indicating a statistically significant effect of treatment on sexual recidivism. However, individual study characteristics (e.g., handling of dropouts and non-equivalent follow-up periods between treatment groups) suggest that results should be interpreted with caution. A comparison of odds ratios by quality of study design indicated that higher quality designs yielded better effect sizes, though the difference between groups was not significant.
http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.pngSexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and TreatmentSpringer Journalshttp://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/the-effectiveness-of-sexual-offender-treatment-for-juveniles-as-RUoddE0FKM

The Effectiveness of Sexual Offender Treatment for Juveniles as Measured by Recidivism: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Published and unpublished data from nine studies on juvenile sexual offender treatment effectiveness were summarized by meta-analysis (N=2986, 2604 known male). Recidivism rates for sexual, non-sexual violent, non-sexual non-violent crimes, and unspecified non-sexual were as follows: 12.53%, 24.73%, 28.51%, and 20.40%, respectively, based on an average 59-month follow-up period. Four included studies contained a control group (n=2288) and five studies included a comparison treatment group (n=698). An average weighted effect size of 0.43 (CI=0.33–0.55) was obtained, indicating a statistically significant effect of treatment on sexual recidivism. However, individual study characteristics (e.g., handling of dropouts and non-equivalent follow-up periods between treatment groups) suggest that results should be interpreted with caution. A comparison of odds ratios by quality of study design indicated that higher quality designs yielded better effect sizes, though the difference between groups was not significant.